December 3, 2024 • 38 mins
What if the path to salvation isn't paved by our actions, but by faith alone? Join us in a captivating exploration of the perilous trap of legalism within Christianity, where we challenge the notion that following religious rules can earn one's place in heaven. By examining biblical figures like the Pharisees and drawing parallels with some Catholic practices, we underscore the essence of nurturing a sincere relationship with God over mere outward compliance.
Venturing further, we tackle the formidable interplay between pride and humility by reflecting on Lucifer’s fall and its relevance to today’s societal challenges. Pride's ability to distort truth and lead to spiritual downfall is laid bare through scriptural insights and contemporary parallels, including issues like Pride Month and transgender identity. With the Pharisees as our guide, we contrast the facade of piety with true humility, advocating for a humbler, more fulfilling spiritual journey.
In a heartfelt conclusion, we explore the liberating power of forgiveness and the spiritual growth it fosters. By shedding grudges and embracing forgiveness, we not only align with God's grace but also experience profound freedom. We share personal stories of distancing from toxic relationships and the transformative journey toward grace, mercy, and the new covenant. Listen in for a meaningful conversation that promises introspection and a deeper connection with Christ, leaving you with love, prayers, and a blessing for the week ahead.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to
say thank you to all of the newsubscribers.
If you haven't yet, considersubscribing, hit that bell
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(00:21):
one-time or give a monthly tosupport the channel.
Anything, great or small, isappreciated.
Now let's get into the video.
What is going on?
My faith and failures.
People, it is a lovely Mondaymorning and we just passed
(00:45):
Thanksgiving, so happyThanksgiving to all of you, but
I did not see you in person.
So this episode I wanted to kindof dial in on something that I
think is very problematic forthe church.
This subject is in my sphere ofpeople, my denomination church
(01:09):
of God is called legalism, andlegalism is, um, something that
is very dangerous to the church.
Now, why is it dangerous to thechurch?
Legalism makes it where you, inessence, have become God and
(01:29):
you, in essence, are in controlof salvation.
Sorry, adjusting some things onmy screen.
So, that being said, catholicsdo this a lot.
I know Catholics.
They get pretty upset andcomment on my stuff, but that's
okay, it's a problem.
(01:51):
Now, what is it about legalismthat is so damaging?
It ends up making a uh.
It makes what we do or how welive determine whether we are
accepted into heaven, and thatis actually in direct conflict
(02:13):
with what Jesus said about.
No one comes to me but throughthe Father.
And then the Bible also talksabout that.
It's not by our works, it's notby what we do, so that no man
can boast, which is saying it'smaking it very clear that you
cannot earn your way into heaven.
(02:34):
And Catholics pay a penance forsomething that they do wrong.
Legalism is no different.
Legalism is a way of dressing.
If you think about this,catholics and legalism they're
pretty much hand in hand,although defined differently by
the people involved in each one.
Um, it is a, a way of becomingand this is very, very is a
(03:01):
strong way of putting it, butit's accurate.
It is a way of putting you asthe in control of whether you
make it to heaven or not.
Now, faith without works isdead.
Okay, let's just go ahead andsay that right now, but you have
(03:22):
to understand that you are notthe one that paid the price.
You cannot do anything to earnyour way into heaven.
You cannot live a certain typeof life, although we are called
to be holy.
We're going to have someepisodes coming up on that
Because God is holy, he desiresfor his people to be holy, but
(03:42):
that is not what gets you intoheaven.
Jesus is the doorway or thebridge however you want to look
at it into which we are savedand then out of that, salvation
works is produced.
Out of that um, it's like forfor a good example that probably
(04:02):
most of you that watch mychannel have experienced.
You've been in a relationshipor you've been married.
It's very hard to stay marriedwhen you make the marriage about
you.
It's very hard to stay married.
It's very hard to have asuccessful marriage when you
always feel you have to dosomething to make them stay.
(04:23):
But we in relationships and oursinful nature and the way we
see things in our fleshly eyes,this is how we view things in
life and we think that it is howthings are and in reality it is
not at all how things are.
(04:44):
In reality, it is not at allhow things are.
Jesus came and died for us sothat we could be saved, and it's
nothing that we have done, butit is something that Christ has
done in us, for us and throughus.
So I want to talk about a littlebit about the dangers of this
(05:04):
type of religion.
And legalism means you've gotto dress a certain way, you have
to do a certain thing, and Ihave friends, brothers and
sisters in Christ that this istheir conviction, and I'm not
trying to push my conviction onsomebody else.
But what I'm saying is that ourconvictions must align with the
Word of God, not a manipulationof the word of God.
(05:25):
There's a big difference.
So let's dive into this.
I want to show you somescriptures.
It says Pride goes beforedestruction and haughtiness
before a fall.
So legalistic mindset.
It's about what I do, it'sabout how I dress, it's about
(05:50):
the procedures, it's about the,for instance, let's go to the
Bible.
We're talking about the Bible,the Pharisees in the Bible.
They were on point withreligious law, religious
procedures, religious everything.
They had it down and Jesuscalled them whitewashed tombs.
(06:11):
Why?
Because they were having anexternal change, for the showing
of how holy they are comparedto other people.
They would even pray out loudand put other people on blast
and all these things.
And it is not.
It is not the heart of God.
(06:32):
They didn't have a relationship, they didn't have something
internal that manifested on theexternal.
They actually had somethingexternal that was trying to
cover up what was truly in theinternal.
So I want you to ask yourselfthis question Are you a prideful
saint?
Do you live your life in such away, your Christian walk, do
you live in such a way that youare the salvation in your life?
(06:57):
You've got it figured out,you've done it, and this is
something I've been guilty of aswell, especially after you do
salvation for a while, you're init for a while.
You you're what I call aseasoned Christian like you.
You do it and you do it good,and eventually, what can happen
is you end up doing it so wellthat you end up excluding the
(07:22):
spiritual aspect and therelationship with God because
you're playing the role and thepart, instead of being a part of
that body of Christ that Goddesires for all of us to be a
part of.
(07:56):
So in the church, we often willtalk about humanity as a virtue
to be embraced.
Sorry, I said humanity,humility, as we say oh, I don't
want any accolades, I don't wantthis and that.
But when we don't get them wethrow a little hissy fit, just
like we can say we love ourneighbor but never take the time
(08:17):
to really get to know them,uh-oh.
So let's get real churchy for asecond.
If you are a church goer, abeliever in Christ, and you go
to church and you say you arethe body, you are a believer but
, and you say you love yourneighbor, can you, can you right
(08:46):
now, name people in your churchthat you've been going to
church with for a while?
That you probably should knowtheir name, but you don't?
I'll wait, Chances are.
There's probably a lot ofpeople, especially if you go to
a larger church Much harder tofall into this trap at a smaller
church because most smallerchurches you've been going there
for years, your family wentthere for years.
You may be related to everybodythere.
(09:07):
It's a lot easier to knowwhat's going on in people's
lives and get up in theirbusiness and be aware of things.
When you actually go to asmaller church Because I mean
small church you're ineverybody's business business.
(09:31):
So what would be, as a Christian, what would be one of the key
ingredients to falling into thistrap that the Pharisees fell
into?
One of these would be pride,being a prideful saint, acting
as if we have done it, and weend up falling into this very
common trap of acting as if wewent ourselves hung on the cross
(09:53):
and we died for our own sins.
We forget very easily and I'mguilty.
I have to remind myself.
I ask God for two things in mylife, and one of those is for me
to always be humble and neverbe proud.
I can be confident and still behumble, but and another thing
(10:16):
is, always have godly wisdom ineverything, and I feel that
God's given me this that I'veasked for, but it's really been
a desire of my heart, not sothat I can say that I am humble,
but so that God, that peoplewill see God in me and not see
me, because and it may have beenthe reason that God well, god
(10:39):
allows us to do whatever we want.
He gives us free will.
But it may be a big part of whyGod allowed me to go into the
drug world, go into alcoholism,go into all the other things
that was tied to those things,and it was so that I could be
able to actually stay humble,because I realized very clearly
(11:00):
that anything and everythingthat God does in my life is 100%
because of him and not becauseof me, like it is him.
He has done it, he does it allthe time and he has elevated
beyond anything I deserve.
I can't give a good reason why,except for my wife, but she
(11:22):
won't receive that.
So we're going to look at whyis pride so?
Legalism is wrapped up in pridewhen you get down to it, saying
that you have to do a certainthing, wear a certain thing.
You can't do this, you can't dothat.
A vast list of laws,regulations and reasons why you
(11:48):
can't do, do, do, do, do.
Okay.
Now, there's also good sides tothis.
I got some, like I said,brothers and sisters, wrapped up
in legalism.
The women have to wear a certainthing.
The men can wear whatever theywant, which is kind of weird,
but the women have to wear acertain thing, which men can
wear whatever they want, whichis kind of weird.
But the women have to wear acertain thing, and uh, which is
fine if that's their conviction.
But the pool in this area, andit's the same on the other side,
(12:12):
like, then there's, you havethe other side of the coin, that
, like there's no reference, noreference, no reverence for
anything.
Like God's house is justanother building.
Like nobody respects anybody.
Nobody respects God's house,nobody respects the word, nobody
even cares to dig into the word.
Just let me come in and be sorelaxed and this and that, and
(12:36):
it's just.
They wouldn't wear the thingsthey wear.
I mean, it's almost sometimesthat they would wear the same
thing to a strip club or to afootball game and you're at
church praising the Lord, likethere should be a little bit of
a difference.
But it should not be your idol,is my point.
So we're going to look at prideand how it is such a dangerous
sin and how it directlyconflicts with God's desire for
(13:01):
his children, for his children,and how even us inside of the
church can fall into this trap.
Much like I said a minute ago,like the Pharisees did, we're
going to look at the fall ofSatan, the ultimate example of
pride's destruction.
So point number one, if you'retaking notes or you want to jot
(13:25):
this down, pride is the root ofmany sins.
So pride is not just anothersin on a list, it is a sin that
leads to most other forms ofrebellion against god.
You go back to the original sinof the fall of Adam and Eve.
What was the original sin thatthey did?
(13:47):
They wanted not, they made itabout them.
It wasn't no longer about whatGod told us to do.
It wasn't about even enjoyingwhat God had given us.
It was.
I deserve to know more.
It was pride, like that was theroot of the first of the fall.
It was pride, like that was theroot of the first of the fall.
So when we allow pride to takeroot in our hearts, it blinds us
(14:10):
to our need for God and ourdependence on him.
Look at James 4, verse 6.
And he gives grace generously.
As the scriptures say, godopposes the proud but gives
grace to the humble.
So pride, actually, when weembrace it, we position ourself
(14:32):
in direct opposition of God.
I'll say it again when weembrace pride, we put ourselves
in direct opposition of what Goddesires and wants for us, what
he wants to do in us and what hewould love to do through us.
We begin to believe that we areself-sufficient, that we no
(14:56):
longer rely on God's grace andprovision.
And I don't know about you, butI need God's provision.
Like I understand I said it aminute ago I understand that
everything that I have thatcomes to pass us through my hand
is a direct blessing from God.
(15:17):
My family, our health we had alot of sickness in the house
Thanksgiving week.
My wife actually didn't evenget to go to the Thanksgiving
meal with her family we do herfamily of Thanksgiving and we do
my family on Christmas and itwas hard for her to say I'm sick
(15:37):
, I need to stay home.
I don't want to give anythingto anybody because she really
wanted to go be with family andshe cooked for hours.
So I got to go and take thefood and be the hero and bring
the food that I didn't even helpmake.
But it was hard for her.
But when you have downtime likethis and your health is tested
for a little bit, for mepersonally it really reminds me
(16:03):
of how lucky we are to have goodhealth.
Like it was just a head thing.
You know, here in East Texasit's cold again, but we had it
Wednesday, I think it was, orTuesday.
It was almost 70 degrees andthen it was last night, I think
it got down to freezing.
It's like that kind of.
You could probably hear I'm alittle nasally right now just
(16:23):
because gets me just this hotcold, hot cold.
It's a bunch of junk.
So sometimes we think monetary,like God's blessing is in dollar
signs, but a lot of times it'sin not having to spend the
dollar bills on medical billsand that, right, there is a huge
blessing from God.
The deception that we don'tneed God's provision or that our
(16:48):
provision is not from God canlead us, will lead us, into
rebellion, Thinking that wedon't need God.
Just like the fall of Satan,pride was the key ingredient.
So why did Satan even fall?
Lucifer once, a beautiful angelfell from heaven because of his
(17:11):
pride.
He wanted to exalt himselfabove God.
He felt that he deserved whatGod was getting.
I mean, think about this.
So when I read the Bible or Istudy things from scripture, I
look at things a little bitdifferent.
Think about the angels thatconstantly surround the throne
of God.
(17:31):
What are they doing?
They're constantly crying holy,holy, holy, holy, holy, holy.
They're always praising him,always saying how holy he is and
singing his praises, speakinghis praises all the time.
Now, apparently, angels havefree will, because when Lucifer
fell, he took a third of theangels with him.
(17:52):
So he had been cooking thisplan for a while and when he I'm
thinking in my head like I'mseeing I'm seeing God on the
throne.
I'm thinking in my head likeI'm seeing I'm seeing God on the
throne.
I'm seeing these angels thatwere specifically created to do
this job, like they have noother job.
This is it.
(18:12):
They surround the throne andthey sing how amazing he is.
Or they say Holy, holy, holyall the time.
Okay, I'm being a littleliberal with my interpretation,
but just follow me here and soyou've gotten, you've got satan
over there.
I can sing like that.
(18:34):
You know, like just all of asudden, we do the same thing in
the church.
I can do what they're doing.
I could do that.
I could do even better.
It probably started somewherelike that.
Like the devil is not aneternal being.
Lucifer is not an eternal being.
He was created, and so Ibelieve that he took time to let
(18:58):
this fester in his heart and,just as any child does, no
matter what the parent says,once they get something in their
head and they see it a certainway my teenager does this he
will remember it in a differentway.
That never even happened.
Like he'll think he'll rememberme saying something, or he'll
add to it and it's somethingthat I never said.
(19:19):
That's called lying, and Idon't think he's doing it to be
malicious.
Maybe he is, I'm not sure, butI can just see like the devil
being like man.
They're praising him all thetime, like when am I going to
(19:41):
get the praise that I deserve?
I'm busting my butt, you know.
He goes probably through thiswhole list and this is I'm just.
This is probably 100%assumption, but all I have to go
on is how we do and how wefester in very real life
scenarios and situations.
So why would his probably beany different, since he likes to
(20:04):
cause those same types ofthings to happen in the church
and on earth.
So it seems like he's justreproducing what he constantly
is experiencing, because he'sgone so far that he cannot be
forgiven.
So he wants us to go so farthat we won't want to be
forgiven, and I think that's oneof the reasons that now he is.
(20:25):
If you've ever dealt withsomebody that's so prideful and
full of themselves, you can'ttell them anything Like you
can't argue with them, you can't, and some of y'all comment on
my videos that you're the sameway and some of you claim to be
Christians and you just try tolike, prove things wrong or say
that and I'm like.
Bible calls us to bepeacemakers.
I think you probably skippedover those verses.
(20:46):
But, that being said, pride wasthe root of the rebellion,
which was the fruit of Lucifer'sfall.
It was the reason.
Look at Isaiah 14, 13-15,chapter 14 for you.
(21:09):
Actually sorry, this is a littlebit just too much scripture.
Fit it on there.
There we go.
Alright, for you said toyourself, I will ascend to
(21:30):
heaven and set my throne abovegod's stars.
I will preside on the mountainsof the gods.
For a way far away in the north, I will climb to the highest
heavens and be like the mosthigh.
Instead, you will be broughtdown to the place of the dead,
down to its lowest depths.
Let's look at another exampleEzekiel 28, 17.
(21:51):
Your heart was filled withpride because of all your beauty
.
Your wisdom was corrupted byyour love of splendor, so I
threw you to the ground andexposed you to the curious gaze
of kings.
Now, this passage right here isactually talking about the king
of Tyre, but it's symbolicallyreferring to how pride can
(22:16):
corrupt our hearts, leading usto our downfall.
Now, pride distorts our senseof reality and makes us believe
that we can be equal or superiorto God.
I mean, this is not even themonth, but I'm going to touch on
it just for a second.
(22:36):
I think it's no coincidencethat there is a celebration of
an abomination of how Godcreated us and it's called Pride
Month.
That right there, I mean it,says all we need to know.
That is the root of therebellion.
So this is talking about?
(22:57):
No, sorry, I already said thatPride distorts our sense of
reality.
I just talked about Pride Month.
Look at this transgender stuff.
Reality has been so distortedand so perverted Like it doesn't
to the logical just not even aChristian.
(23:17):
To the logical person, it makeszero sense of what they're
trying to do and what they'll doto themselves because of their
confusion, and those people needJesus too.
It makes us believe that we canbe equal or superior to God.
Point number two is pride is adeception that contradicts
(23:38):
humility.
It is the opposite.
Pride deceives us into thinkingthat we are humble when in
reality we are not.
This is the most evident in howthe Pharisees betrayed
themselves.
They displayed outward humilityand piety, but were filled with
pride and self-righteousness.
(23:58):
So let's look at this scripturein Luke Pride is the deception
that contradicts humility.
Look at Luke, chapter 18, 11and 12.
The Pharisee stood by himselfand prayed this prayer.
I thank you, god, he's beingreal.
What a jerk that.
(24:19):
I'm not like other peoplecheaters, sinners, adulterers.
I'm certainly not like the taxcollectors.
Then he had to twist the knife.
I fast twice a week and I giveyou a tenth of my income.
Though the Pharisee's actionsseem pious and humble, his heart
was filled with pride.
(24:40):
He compared himself to others,believing that the works made
him more righteous than otherpeople before God.
But God desires humility, notin our outward appearance but in
the heart.
Look at Matthew 23.
Make sure I got it on thescreen.
(25:01):
27 and 28.
What sorrow awaits you,teachers of rebellious law and
you Pharisees, you hypocrites.
For you are like whitewashedtombs beautiful on the outside
but filled on the inside withdead people's bones and all
sorts of impurity.
Outwardly you look likerighteous people, but inwardly
(25:22):
your hearts are filled withhypocrisy and lawlessness.
In the same way, many disguisetheir pride as humility, wearing
the mask of righteousness,while their hearts remain far
(25:45):
from God.
True humility requires anhonest assessment of ourselves
and a recognition of our need ofGod's grace.
Point number three prideconflicts with God's will for
his children.
Pride conflicts with God's willfor his children.
(26:10):
God desires his children towalk in humility and dependence
on him, recognizing that we allhave pride and we all, all that
we have and all that we arecomes from him.
Recognizing that all we haveand all we are comes from him.
(26:33):
Pride directly conflicts withthis, as it shifts the focus
from God to ourselves.
When we exalt ourselves, wepush God out of his rightful
place on the throne of ourhearts.
He should be Lord of our lives.
Go over in Philippians, chapter2, 3 and 4.
(26:56):
Don't be selfish.
Don't try to impress others.
Be humble, thinking of othersas better than yourselves.
Don't look out only for yourown interests, but take an
interest in others too.
It's a no brainer that you haveto take care of your interest.
You have to take care ofyourself.
You have to do what's right foryou.
You have to make sure that yousurvive.
(27:19):
That's kind of a no duh moment,but when you're willing to step
on others to make that happen,that's when you've crossed a
line to where you are notworried about anybody else but
yourself.
Pride is inherently selfish,seeking to glorify self rather
(27:41):
than God.
Humility, however, reflects thecharacter of Christ, who did
not seek his own glory, butglory of the Father.
Jesus himself taught us thatthe essence of humility,
choosing the path of serviceover the pursuit of status and
(28:04):
recognition.
Look in here, matthew, chapter23, verse 12.
But those who exalt themselveswill be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will beexalted.
This is God's design for hischildren.
Humility leads to exaltation andI know this feels.
It feels like it's actually not.
(28:25):
And I know this feels it feelslike it's actually not.
Like when the Bible tells us toforgive our enemies, to pray
blessings on our enemies, that'sreally hard to do.
It feels like it is theopposite of what we actually
should be doing, but in realityit's not about the other person.
When you do things like this,it will strengthen you and it
(28:46):
will build character in you.
It will build a forgiveness inyou.
It's like the.
I tell my people all the timethat faith is like a muscle the
more you use it, the stronger itgets and the more you can build
up.
Forgiveness is no different Likethe more you forgive and I'm
not saying to let people walkall over you, but when you're
(29:08):
holding onto stuff and it'salways on your lips, you have
not truly forgiven.
So that right there will end upbuilding up pride inside of you
, because now you're like, well,I'm never going to let anybody
do that to me again.
And all of a sudden you've gotthis overwhelming swell of pride
that you're wearing as a badgeof honor because someone hurt
(29:29):
you and you won't let it go oractually forgive them.
Forgiveness is not letting themoff the hook.
Forgiveness is actually lettingyou become free and taking the
chains off of you.
There's nowhere in the Bible itsays to forgive them and to
hang out with them every day.
That's not a part of scripture,but forgiveness.
And you may never be able tohave this conversation of
forgiveness with the person thatactually did something to you
(29:52):
or against you and hurt you, butyou can forgive them and let
that go to where you're notletting it drag you down.
And it could, because it willbe the dead weight.
Like you, you will not be ableto be as close to Christ or be
Christ like we are called to do,unless you forgive and let
things go.
You have to, if not it will bedead weight.
(30:14):
It will be chains on your hands, ankles.
You can't be the hands and feetof Jesus if you're wearing
chains.
The clinking is very loud.
So God's design for his childrenis humility, because it leads
to exaltation and pride leads toour downfall.
(30:36):
The greatest saints are thosewho humbly recognize that all
they have and all they needcomes from Christ.
Pride is not just an issue forthose outside of the church.
It's something that creeps intothe hearts of believers,
sometimes masquerading as falsehumility, as we've seen today.
(31:03):
Pride is dangerous because itconflicts with God's desire for
our lives.
It deceives us into thinkingthat we're something.
We are not Just like thePharisees and just like Satan,
but there is hope.
(31:24):
There is hope God's grace isavailable to those who will open
up themselves and receive thatgrace and that mercy and that
forgiveness and then take whathas been given to you, to me, to
us, and then give that samegift to other people, that same
(31:51):
gift to other people.
I want to ask you are youwilling?
This is going to be painful foryou because it will feel like I
don't know why.
We're harping on forgiveness alot, but I guess pride is kind
of in that same sphere, likeunforgiveness and pride a lot of
times go hand in hand.
Some people will live theirentire life in bondage of
unforgiveness because they willnot forgive because they hurt me
, and that is a form.
(32:11):
That's just another form, adifferent mask of pride.
That's all it is.
Well, you don't know what theydid to me.
You don't know what they saidto me.
You don't know how they treatedme.
You know there's all kinds ofit.
Doesn't matter, it really doesnot matter.
Lay down your pride, lay downyour pride.
When you give up that pride, Ipromise you there is going to be
(32:36):
a weight come off of yourshoulders and lifted from your
spirit that you have neverexperienced before, especially
if you've been carrying thisweight for a very long time,
especially if you've beencarrying this weight for a very
long time, because, in reality,the way you feel about it is
probably just as we're concerned.
It's probably.
It probably is exactly whatthey deserve, but chances are
(33:02):
they have no clue or they don'tcare.
And who ends up suffering whenunforgiveness is ruling your
life?
It's you, not them.
They have no clue.
You're sitting there suffering.
You're sitting there in misery,hurting, with these chains on
you, and they have no clue ordon't care.
(33:23):
Why give them that space in yourlife?
Why give them that space inyour life?
Why give them that space inyour mind.
Why give them that space inyour heart, why give them that
space in your day-to-day routine?
If they don't care?
You shouldn't care.
Even if they do care, ifthey're doing it on purpose and
they're just having a blast,they're just doing whatever they
can do.
Let it go.
Let it fall off your back,because if not, it will be the
(33:50):
burden of your downfall.
God's grace is available to usthat will humbly receive it,
being humble before the Lord,acknowledging that without Him
we are nothing.
Look over 1 Peter, 5.
In the same way, you who areyounger must accept the
authority of the elders.
All of you dress yourselves inhumility as you relate to one
(34:14):
another, for God opposes theproud but gives grace to the
humble.
So humble yourselves under themighty power of God.
So humble yourselves under themighty power of God and all, and
at the right time he will liftyou up in honor.
(34:35):
God desires for his children tobe humble people.
Righteousness, holiness andhumility is not tied up in
something we wear.
It's not tied in what church wego to, what denomination we're
a part of, what bible we read,how your hair is styled.
(34:58):
If you wear a tie, if you don'twear a tie, holiness belongs to
god.
But a holy God requires hispeople to be holy.
That means when you come toChrist, the things that once was
a part of your life should nolonger be a part of your life.
The people and this is where Ihave I struggle with this the
(35:19):
people I did struggle with thisnot anymore, but I used to
struggle terribly because Ididn't want to give up the
relationships that I've had myentire life Because I like
people, all shapes and sizes,colors, whatever.
I just love being around people.
It didn't matter to me.
And so for me to say I can't bearound people anymore, certain
(35:41):
people anymore.
It was very difficult for me todo people anymore.
It was very difficult for me todo, but it was something I
needed to do so that I canactually be free and live in
freedom, the freedom God desiredfor me.
Like.
There's absolutely, absolutelyno way I would be where I am now
, in Christ and elevated to theposition that God has elevated
(36:03):
me to in all areas of my life,if I would not have forgiven my
past hurts of the people thathurt me and if I would not have
forgiven myself because of allthe hurting that I did, then
maybe that's you.
But be humble enough to come tothe Lord and say you know what.
(36:24):
But be humble enough to come tothe Lord and say you know what.
I don't know if I'm in thewrong, but if I am, lord, show
me.
I don't know if I'm stillliving in unforgiveness, but if
I am, lord, show me.
I don't know if I'm stillletting these chains of.
Maybe it's legalistic, maybeit's ritual, maybe it's whatever
, but God doesn't desire for usto live under those.
(36:48):
That's the old law, oldcovenant, things of the old.
Now we're under the newcovenant.
Those things do not apply.
Yes, we can learn.
That doesn't mean throw out theOld Testament.
We can learn, apply and getgood principles from the Old
(37:10):
Testament, from teachings of theOld Covenant, but they should
not be just like Jesus told thePharisees.
He said was not the Sabbath madefor the people, not the people
for the Sabbath?
Things like that that we clingto and say we need to make a
whole theology out of it or fillin the blank with whatever.
(37:33):
But ask the Holy Spirit, speakto me, lead me, guide me in your
ways, not what I think or myopinion or my translation, but
God, what do you say?
What do you desire?
What do you want?
And I guarantee you, when youbegin to allow the Holy Spirit
(37:54):
to lead you and guide you, thereis a weight that is lifted that
I can't even explain to you.
So I love you, I'm praying foryou and I hope you have a great
rest of your week.
Faith and Failures Podcast.
Before we get into today's video, I just wanted to
say thank you to all of the newsubscribers.
If you haven't yet, considersubscribing, hit that bell
notification so that you can seeevery time I put out a new
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A major portion of you thatwatch my videos haven't
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(00:21):
one-time or give a monthly tosupport the channel.
Anything, great or small, isappreciated.
Now let's get into the video.
What is going on?
My faith and failures.
People, it is a lovely Mondaymorning and we just passed
(00:45):
Thanksgiving, so happyThanksgiving to all of you, but
I did not see you in person.
So this episode I wanted to kindof dial in on something that I
think is very problematic forthe church.
This subject is in my sphere ofpeople, my denomination church
(01:09):
of God is called legalism, andlegalism is, um, something that
is very dangerous to the church.
Now, why is it dangerous to thechurch?
Legalism makes it where you, inessence, have become God and
(01:29):
you, in essence, are in controlof salvation.
Sorry, adjusting some things onmy screen.
So, that being said, catholicsdo this a lot.
I know Catholics.
They get pretty upset andcomment on my stuff, but that's
okay, it's a problem.
(01:51):
Now, what is it about legalismthat is so damaging?
It ends up making a uh.
It makes what we do or how welive determine whether we are
accepted into heaven, and thatis actually in direct conflict
(02:13):
with what Jesus said about.
No one comes to me but throughthe Father.
And then the Bible also talksabout that.
It's not by our works, it's notby what we do, so that no man
can boast, which is saying it'smaking it very clear that you
cannot earn your way into heaven.
(02:34):
And Catholics pay a penance forsomething that they do wrong.
Legalism is no different.
Legalism is a way of dressing.
If you think about this,catholics and legalism they're
pretty much hand in hand,although defined differently by
the people involved in each one.
Um, it is a, a way of becomingand this is very, very is a
(03:01):
strong way of putting it, butit's accurate.
It is a way of putting you asthe in control of whether you
make it to heaven or not.
Now, faith without works isdead.
Okay, let's just go ahead andsay that right now, but you have
(03:22):
to understand that you are notthe one that paid the price.
You cannot do anything to earnyour way into heaven.
You cannot live a certain typeof life, although we are called
to be holy.
We're going to have someepisodes coming up on that
Because God is holy, he desiresfor his people to be holy, but
(03:42):
that is not what gets you intoheaven.
Jesus is the doorway or thebridge however you want to look
at it into which we are savedand then out of that, salvation
works is produced.
Out of that um, it's like forfor a good example that probably
(04:02):
most of you that watch mychannel have experienced.
You've been in a relationshipor you've been married.
It's very hard to stay marriedwhen you make the marriage about
you.
It's very hard to stay married.
It's very hard to have asuccessful marriage when you
always feel you have to dosomething to make them stay.
(04:23):
But we in relationships and oursinful nature and the way we
see things in our fleshly eyes,this is how we view things in
life and we think that it is howthings are and in reality it is
not at all how things are.
(04:44):
In reality, it is not at allhow things are.
Jesus came and died for us sothat we could be saved, and it's
nothing that we have done, butit is something that Christ has
done in us, for us and throughus.
So I want to talk about a littlebit about the dangers of this
(05:04):
type of religion.
And legalism means you've gotto dress a certain way, you have
to do a certain thing, and Ihave friends, brothers and
sisters in Christ that this istheir conviction, and I'm not
trying to push my conviction onsomebody else.
But what I'm saying is that ourconvictions must align with the
Word of God, not a manipulationof the word of God.
(05:25):
There's a big difference.
So let's dive into this.
I want to show you somescriptures.
It says Pride goes beforedestruction and haughtiness
before a fall.
So legalistic mindset.
It's about what I do, it'sabout how I dress, it's about
(05:50):
the procedures, it's about the,for instance, let's go to the
Bible.
We're talking about the Bible,the Pharisees in the Bible.
They were on point withreligious law, religious
procedures, religious everything.
They had it down and Jesuscalled them whitewashed tombs.
(06:11):
Why?
Because they were having anexternal change, for the showing
of how holy they are comparedto other people.
They would even pray out loudand put other people on blast
and all these things.
And it is not.
It is not the heart of God.
(06:32):
They didn't have a relationship, they didn't have something
internal that manifested on theexternal.
They actually had somethingexternal that was trying to
cover up what was truly in theinternal.
So I want you to ask yourselfthis question Are you a prideful
saint?
Do you live your life in such away, your Christian walk, do
you live in such a way that youare the salvation in your life?
(06:57):
You've got it figured out,you've done it, and this is
something I've been guilty of aswell, especially after you do
salvation for a while, you're init for a while.
You you're what I call aseasoned Christian like you.
You do it and you do it good,and eventually, what can happen
is you end up doing it so wellthat you end up excluding the
(07:22):
spiritual aspect and therelationship with God because
you're playing the role and thepart, instead of being a part of
that body of Christ that Goddesires for all of us to be a
part of.
(07:56):
So in the church, we often willtalk about humanity as a virtue
to be embraced.
Sorry, I said humanity,humility, as we say oh, I don't
want any accolades, I don't wantthis and that.
But when we don't get them wethrow a little hissy fit, just
like we can say we love ourneighbor but never take the time
(08:17):
to really get to know them,uh-oh.
So let's get real churchy for asecond.
If you are a church goer, abeliever in Christ, and you go
to church and you say you arethe body, you are a believer but
, and you say you love yourneighbor, can you, can you right
(08:46):
now, name people in your churchthat you've been going to
church with for a while?
That you probably should knowtheir name, but you don't?
I'll wait, Chances are.
There's probably a lot ofpeople, especially if you go to
a larger church Much harder tofall into this trap at a smaller
church because most smallerchurches you've been going there
for years, your family wentthere for years.
You may be related to everybodythere.
(09:07):
It's a lot easier to knowwhat's going on in people's
lives and get up in theirbusiness and be aware of things.
When you actually go to asmaller church Because I mean
small church you're ineverybody's business business.
(09:31):
So what would be, as a Christian, what would be one of the key
ingredients to falling into thistrap that the Pharisees fell
into?
One of these would be pride,being a prideful saint, acting
as if we have done it, and weend up falling into this very
common trap of acting as if wewent ourselves hung on the cross
(09:53):
and we died for our own sins.
We forget very easily and I'mguilty.
I have to remind myself.
I ask God for two things in mylife, and one of those is for me
to always be humble and neverbe proud.
I can be confident and still behumble, but and another thing
(10:16):
is, always have godly wisdom ineverything, and I feel that
God's given me this that I'veasked for, but it's really been
a desire of my heart, not sothat I can say that I am humble,
but so that God, that peoplewill see God in me and not see
me, because and it may have beenthe reason that God well, god
(10:39):
allows us to do whatever we want.
He gives us free will.
But it may be a big part of whyGod allowed me to go into the
drug world, go into alcoholism,go into all the other things
that was tied to those things,and it was so that I could be
able to actually stay humble,because I realized very clearly
(11:00):
that anything and everythingthat God does in my life is 100%
because of him and not becauseof me, like it is him.
He has done it, he does it allthe time and he has elevated
beyond anything I deserve.
I can't give a good reason why,except for my wife, but she
(11:22):
won't receive that.
So we're going to look at whyis pride so?
Legalism is wrapped up in pridewhen you get down to it, saying
that you have to do a certainthing, wear a certain thing.
You can't do this, you can't dothat.
A vast list of laws,regulations and reasons why you
(11:48):
can't do, do, do, do, do.
Okay.
Now, there's also good sides tothis.
I got some, like I said,brothers and sisters, wrapped up
in legalism.
The women have to wear a certainthing.
The men can wear whatever theywant, which is kind of weird,
but the women have to wear acertain thing, which men can
wear whatever they want, whichis kind of weird.
But the women have to wear acertain thing, and uh, which is
fine if that's their conviction.
But the pool in this area, andit's the same on the other side,
(12:12):
like, then there's, you havethe other side of the coin, that
, like there's no reference, noreference, no reverence for
anything.
Like God's house is justanother building.
Like nobody respects anybody.
Nobody respects God's house,nobody respects the word, nobody
even cares to dig into the word.
Just let me come in and be sorelaxed and this and that, and
(12:36):
it's just.
They wouldn't wear the thingsthey wear.
I mean, it's almost sometimesthat they would wear the same
thing to a strip club or to afootball game and you're at
church praising the Lord, likethere should be a little bit of
a difference.
But it should not be your idol,is my point.
So we're going to look at prideand how it is such a dangerous
sin and how it directlyconflicts with God's desire for
(13:01):
his children, for his children,and how even us inside of the
church can fall into this trap.
Much like I said a minute ago,like the Pharisees did, we're
going to look at the fall ofSatan, the ultimate example of
pride's destruction.
So point number one, if you'retaking notes or you want to jot
(13:25):
this down, pride is the root ofmany sins.
So pride is not just anothersin on a list, it is a sin that
leads to most other forms ofrebellion against god.
You go back to the original sinof the fall of Adam and Eve.
What was the original sin thatthey did?
(13:47):
They wanted not, they made itabout them.
It wasn't no longer about whatGod told us to do.
It wasn't about even enjoyingwhat God had given us.
It was.
I deserve to know more.
It was pride, like that was theroot of the first of the fall.
It was pride, like that was theroot of the first of the fall.
So when we allow pride to takeroot in our hearts, it blinds us
(14:10):
to our need for God and ourdependence on him.
Look at James 4, verse 6.
And he gives grace generously.
As the scriptures say, godopposes the proud but gives
grace to the humble.
So pride, actually, when weembrace it, we position ourself
(14:32):
in direct opposition of God.
I'll say it again when weembrace pride, we put ourselves
in direct opposition of what Goddesires and wants for us, what
he wants to do in us and what hewould love to do through us.
We begin to believe that we areself-sufficient, that we no
(14:56):
longer rely on God's grace andprovision.
And I don't know about you, butI need God's provision.
Like I understand I said it aminute ago I understand that
everything that I have thatcomes to pass us through my hand
is a direct blessing from God.
(15:17):
My family, our health we had alot of sickness in the house
Thanksgiving week.
My wife actually didn't evenget to go to the Thanksgiving
meal with her family we do herfamily of Thanksgiving and we do
my family on Christmas and itwas hard for her to say I'm sick
(15:37):
, I need to stay home.
I don't want to give anythingto anybody because she really
wanted to go be with family andshe cooked for hours.
So I got to go and take thefood and be the hero and bring
the food that I didn't even helpmake.
But it was hard for her.
But when you have downtime likethis and your health is tested
for a little bit, for mepersonally it really reminds me
(16:03):
of how lucky we are to have goodhealth.
Like it was just a head thing.
You know, here in East Texasit's cold again, but we had it
Wednesday, I think it was, orTuesday.
It was almost 70 degrees andthen it was last night, I think
it got down to freezing.
It's like that kind of.
You could probably hear I'm alittle nasally right now just
(16:23):
because gets me just this hotcold, hot cold.
It's a bunch of junk.
So sometimes we think monetary,like God's blessing is in dollar
signs, but a lot of times it'sin not having to spend the
dollar bills on medical billsand that, right, there is a huge
blessing from God.
The deception that we don'tneed God's provision or that our
(16:48):
provision is not from God canlead us, will lead us, into
rebellion, Thinking that wedon't need God.
Just like the fall of Satan,pride was the key ingredient.
So why did Satan even fall?
Lucifer once, a beautiful angelfell from heaven because of his
(17:11):
pride.
He wanted to exalt himselfabove God.
He felt that he deserved whatGod was getting.
I mean, think about this.
So when I read the Bible or Istudy things from scripture, I
look at things a little bitdifferent.
Think about the angels thatconstantly surround the throne
of God.
(17:31):
What are they doing?
They're constantly crying holy,holy, holy, holy, holy, holy.
They're always praising him,always saying how holy he is and
singing his praises, speakinghis praises all the time.
Now, apparently, angels havefree will, because when Lucifer
fell, he took a third of theangels with him.
(17:52):
So he had been cooking thisplan for a while and when he I'm
thinking in my head like I'mseeing I'm seeing God on the
throne.
I'm thinking in my head likeI'm seeing I'm seeing God on the
throne.
I'm seeing these angels thatwere specifically created to do
this job, like they have noother job.
This is it.
(18:12):
They surround the throne andthey sing how amazing he is.
Or they say Holy, holy, holyall the time.
Okay, I'm being a littleliberal with my interpretation,
but just follow me here and soyou've gotten, you've got satan
over there.
I can sing like that.
(18:34):
You know, like just all of asudden, we do the same thing in
the church.
I can do what they're doing.
I could do that.
I could do even better.
It probably started somewherelike that.
Like the devil is not aneternal being.
Lucifer is not an eternal being.
He was created, and so Ibelieve that he took time to let
(18:58):
this fester in his heart and,just as any child does, no
matter what the parent says,once they get something in their
head and they see it a certainway my teenager does this he
will remember it in a differentway.
That never even happened.
Like he'll think he'll rememberme saying something, or he'll
add to it and it's somethingthat I never said.
(19:19):
That's called lying, and Idon't think he's doing it to be
malicious.
Maybe he is, I'm not sure, butI can just see like the devil
being like man.
They're praising him all thetime, like when am I going to
(19:41):
get the praise that I deserve?
I'm busting my butt, you know.
He goes probably through thiswhole list and this is I'm just.
This is probably 100%assumption, but all I have to go
on is how we do and how wefester in very real life
scenarios and situations.
So why would his probably beany different, since he likes to
(20:04):
cause those same types ofthings to happen in the church
and on earth.
So it seems like he's justreproducing what he constantly
is experiencing, because he'sgone so far that he cannot be
forgiven.
So he wants us to go so farthat we won't want to be
forgiven, and I think that's oneof the reasons that now he is.
(20:25):
If you've ever dealt withsomebody that's so prideful and
full of themselves, you can'ttell them anything Like you
can't argue with them, you can't, and some of y'all comment on
my videos that you're the sameway and some of you claim to be
Christians and you just try tolike, prove things wrong or say
that and I'm like.
Bible calls us to bepeacemakers.
I think you probably skippedover those verses.
(20:46):
But, that being said, pride wasthe root of the rebellion,
which was the fruit of Lucifer'sfall.
It was the reason.
Look at Isaiah 14, 13-15,chapter 14 for you.
(21:09):
Actually sorry, this is a littlebit just too much scripture.
Fit it on there.
There we go.
Alright, for you said toyourself, I will ascend to
(21:30):
heaven and set my throne abovegod's stars.
I will preside on the mountainsof the gods.
For a way far away in the north, I will climb to the highest
heavens and be like the mosthigh.
Instead, you will be broughtdown to the place of the dead,
down to its lowest depths.
Let's look at another exampleEzekiel 28, 17.
(21:51):
Your heart was filled withpride because of all your beauty
.
Your wisdom was corrupted byyour love of splendor, so I
threw you to the ground andexposed you to the curious gaze
of kings.
Now, this passage right here isactually talking about the king
of Tyre, but it's symbolicallyreferring to how pride can
(22:16):
corrupt our hearts, leading usto our downfall.
Now, pride distorts our senseof reality and makes us believe
that we can be equal or superiorto God.
I mean, this is not even themonth, but I'm going to touch on
it just for a second.
(22:36):
I think it's no coincidencethat there is a celebration of
an abomination of how Godcreated us and it's called Pride
Month.
That right there, I mean it,says all we need to know.
That is the root of therebellion.
So this is talking about?
(22:57):
No, sorry, I already said thatPride distorts our sense of
reality.
I just talked about Pride Month.
Look at this transgender stuff.
Reality has been so distortedand so perverted Like it doesn't
to the logical just not even aChristian.
(23:17):
To the logical person, it makeszero sense of what they're
trying to do and what they'll doto themselves because of their
confusion, and those people needJesus too.
It makes us believe that we canbe equal or superior to God.
Point number two is pride is adeception that contradicts
(23:38):
humility.
It is the opposite.
Pride deceives us into thinkingthat we are humble when in
reality we are not.
This is the most evident in howthe Pharisees betrayed
themselves.
They displayed outward humilityand piety, but were filled with
pride and self-righteousness.
(23:58):
So let's look at this scripturein Luke Pride is the deception
that contradicts humility.
Look at Luke, chapter 18, 11and 12.
The Pharisee stood by himselfand prayed this prayer.
I thank you, god, he's beingreal.
What a jerk that.
(24:19):
I'm not like other peoplecheaters, sinners, adulterers.
I'm certainly not like the taxcollectors.
Then he had to twist the knife.
I fast twice a week and I giveyou a tenth of my income.
Though the Pharisee's actionsseem pious and humble, his heart
was filled with pride.
(24:40):
He compared himself to others,believing that the works made
him more righteous than otherpeople before God.
But God desires humility, notin our outward appearance but in
the heart.
Look at Matthew 23.
Make sure I got it on thescreen.
(25:01):
27 and 28.
What sorrow awaits you,teachers of rebellious law and
you Pharisees, you hypocrites.
For you are like whitewashedtombs beautiful on the outside
but filled on the inside withdead people's bones and all
sorts of impurity.
Outwardly you look likerighteous people, but inwardly
(25:22):
your hearts are filled withhypocrisy and lawlessness.
In the same way, many disguisetheir pride as humility, wearing
the mask of righteousness,while their hearts remain far
(25:45):
from God.
True humility requires anhonest assessment of ourselves
and a recognition of our need ofGod's grace.
Point number three prideconflicts with God's will for
his children.
Pride conflicts with God's willfor his children.
(26:10):
God desires his children towalk in humility and dependence
on him, recognizing that we allhave pride and we all, all that
we have and all that we arecomes from him.
Recognizing that all we haveand all we are comes from him.
(26:33):
Pride directly conflicts withthis, as it shifts the focus
from God to ourselves.
When we exalt ourselves, wepush God out of his rightful
place on the throne of ourhearts.
He should be Lord of our lives.
Go over in Philippians, chapter2, 3 and 4.
(26:56):
Don't be selfish.
Don't try to impress others.
Be humble, thinking of othersas better than yourselves.
Don't look out only for yourown interests, but take an
interest in others too.
It's a no brainer that you haveto take care of your interest.
You have to take care ofyourself.
You have to do what's right foryou.
You have to make sure that yousurvive.
(27:19):
That's kind of a no duh moment,but when you're willing to step
on others to make that happen,that's when you've crossed a
line to where you are notworried about anybody else but
yourself.
Pride is inherently selfish,seeking to glorify self rather
(27:41):
than God.
Humility, however, reflects thecharacter of Christ, who did
not seek his own glory, butglory of the Father.
Jesus himself taught us thatthe essence of humility,
choosing the path of serviceover the pursuit of status and
(28:04):
recognition.
Look in here, matthew, chapter23, verse 12.
But those who exalt themselveswill be humbled, and those who
humble themselves will beexalted.
This is God's design for hischildren.
Humility leads to exaltation andI know this feels.
It feels like it's actually not.
(28:25):
And I know this feels it feelslike it's actually not.
Like when the Bible tells us toforgive our enemies, to pray
blessings on our enemies, that'sreally hard to do.
It feels like it is theopposite of what we actually
should be doing, but in realityit's not about the other person.
When you do things like this,it will strengthen you and it
(28:46):
will build character in you.
It will build a forgiveness inyou.
It's like the.
I tell my people all the timethat faith is like a muscle the
more you use it, the stronger itgets and the more you can build
up.
Forgiveness is no different Likethe more you forgive and I'm
not saying to let people walkall over you, but when you're
(29:08):
holding onto stuff and it'salways on your lips, you have
not truly forgiven.
So that right there will end upbuilding up pride inside of you
, because now you're like, well,I'm never going to let anybody
do that to me again.
And all of a sudden you've gotthis overwhelming swell of pride
that you're wearing as a badgeof honor because someone hurt
(29:29):
you and you won't let it go oractually forgive them.
Forgiveness is not letting themoff the hook.
Forgiveness is actually lettingyou become free and taking the
chains off of you.
There's nowhere in the Bible itsays to forgive them and to
hang out with them every day.
That's not a part of scripture,but forgiveness.
And you may never be able tohave this conversation of
forgiveness with the person thatactually did something to you
(29:52):
or against you and hurt you, butyou can forgive them and let
that go to where you're notletting it drag you down.
And it could, because it willbe the dead weight.
Like you, you will not be ableto be as close to Christ or be
Christ like we are called to do,unless you forgive and let
things go.
You have to, if not it will bedead weight.
(30:14):
It will be chains on your hands, ankles.
You can't be the hands and feetof Jesus if you're wearing
chains.
The clinking is very loud.
So God's design for his childrenis humility, because it leads
to exaltation and pride leads toour downfall.
(30:36):
The greatest saints are thosewho humbly recognize that all
they have and all they needcomes from Christ.
Pride is not just an issue forthose outside of the church.
It's something that creeps intothe hearts of believers,
sometimes masquerading as falsehumility, as we've seen today.
(31:03):
Pride is dangerous because itconflicts with God's desire for
our lives.
It deceives us into thinkingthat we're something.
We are not Just like thePharisees and just like Satan,
but there is hope.
(31:24):
There is hope God's grace isavailable to those who will open
up themselves and receive thatgrace and that mercy and that
forgiveness and then take whathas been given to you, to me, to
us, and then give that samegift to other people, that same
(31:51):
gift to other people.
I want to ask you are youwilling?
This is going to be painful foryou because it will feel like I
don't know why.
We're harping on forgiveness alot, but I guess pride is kind
of in that same sphere, likeunforgiveness and pride a lot of
times go hand in hand.
Some people will live theirentire life in bondage of
unforgiveness because they willnot forgive because they hurt me
, and that is a form.
(32:11):
That's just another form, adifferent mask of pride.
That's all it is.
Well, you don't know what theydid to me.
You don't know what they saidto me.
You don't know how they treatedme.
You know there's all kinds ofit.
Doesn't matter, it really doesnot matter.
Lay down your pride, lay downyour pride.
When you give up that pride, Ipromise you there is going to be
(32:36):
a weight come off of yourshoulders and lifted from your
spirit that you have neverexperienced before, especially
if you've been carrying thisweight for a very long time,
especially if you've beencarrying this weight for a very
long time, because, in reality,the way you feel about it is
probably just as we're concerned.
It's probably.
It probably is exactly whatthey deserve, but chances are
(33:02):
they have no clue or they don'tcare.
And who ends up suffering whenunforgiveness is ruling your
life?
It's you, not them.
They have no clue.
You're sitting there suffering.
You're sitting there in misery,hurting, with these chains on
you, and they have no clue ordon't care.
(33:23):
Why give them that space in yourlife?
Why give them that space inyour life?
Why give them that space inyour mind.
Why give them that space inyour heart, why give them that
space in your day-to-day routine?
If they don't care?
You shouldn't care.
Even if they do care, ifthey're doing it on purpose and
they're just having a blast,they're just doing whatever they
can do.
Let it go.
Let it fall off your back,because if not, it will be the
(33:50):
burden of your downfall.
God's grace is available to usthat will humbly receive it,
being humble before the Lord,acknowledging that without Him
we are nothing.
Look over 1 Peter, 5.
In the same way, you who areyounger must accept the
authority of the elders.
All of you dress yourselves inhumility as you relate to one
(34:14):
another, for God opposes theproud but gives grace to the
humble.
So humble yourselves under themighty power of God.
So humble yourselves under themighty power of God and all, and
at the right time he will liftyou up in honor.
(34:35):
God desires for his children tobe humble people.
Righteousness, holiness andhumility is not tied up in
something we wear.
It's not tied in what church wego to, what denomination we're
a part of, what bible we read,how your hair is styled.
(34:58):
If you wear a tie, if you don'twear a tie, holiness belongs to
god.
But a holy God requires hispeople to be holy.
That means when you come toChrist, the things that once was
a part of your life should nolonger be a part of your life.
The people and this is where Ihave I struggle with this the
(35:19):
people I did struggle with thisnot anymore, but I used to
struggle terribly because Ididn't want to give up the
relationships that I've had myentire life Because I like
people, all shapes and sizes,colors, whatever.
I just love being around people.
It didn't matter to me.
And so for me to say I can't bearound people anymore, certain
(35:41):
people anymore.
It was very difficult for me todo people anymore.
It was very difficult for me todo, but it was something I
needed to do so that I canactually be free and live in
freedom, the freedom God desiredfor me.
Like.
There's absolutely, absolutelyno way I would be where I am now
, in Christ and elevated to theposition that God has elevated
(36:03):
me to in all areas of my life,if I would not have forgiven my
past hurts of the people thathurt me and if I would not have
forgiven myself because of allthe hurting that I did, then
maybe that's you.
But be humble enough to come tothe Lord and say you know what.
(36:24):
But be humble enough to come tothe Lord and say you know what.
I don't know if I'm in thewrong, but if I am, lord, show
me.
I don't know if I'm stillliving in unforgiveness, but if
I am, lord, show me.
I don't know if I'm stillletting these chains of.
Maybe it's legalistic, maybeit's ritual, maybe it's whatever
, but God doesn't desire for usto live under those.
(36:48):
That's the old law, oldcovenant, things of the old.
Now we're under the newcovenant.
Those things do not apply.
Yes, we can learn.
That doesn't mean throw out theOld Testament.
We can learn, apply and getgood principles from the Old
(37:10):
Testament, from teachings of theOld Covenant, but they should
not be just like Jesus told thePharisees.
He said was not the Sabbath madefor the people, not the people
for the Sabbath?
Things like that that we clingto and say we need to make a
whole theology out of it or fillin the blank with whatever.
(37:33):
But ask the Holy Spirit, speakto me, lead me, guide me in your
ways, not what I think or myopinion or my translation, but
God, what do you say?
What do you desire?
What do you want?
And I guarantee you, when youbegin to allow the Holy Spirit
(37:54):
to lead you and guide you, thereis a weight that is lifted that
I can't even explain to you.
So I love you, I'm praying foryou and I hope you have a great
rest of your week.
Faith and Failures Podcast.
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